2006.03.16
The other day I overheard someone's conversation on his cell phone. I'm not going to complain about his loud voice and disregard for others around him. We have all heard those complaints a million times and it doesn't look like anything is going to change. We are just going to have to get used to people talking loudly in cell phones everywhere. Just wait till the phones are implanted in our skulls, then things will be really weird.
What I am complaining about is the phrase this guy used. He said, "well that begs the question, where do you blah blah blah". No it doesn't beg the question, whatever it was, it must have raised the question. I wish people would stop using this phrase. It doesn't mean what they think it means. See the explanation at Wikipedia. Basically the actual meaning refers to a circular argument. Wiki also has a section on this very controversy over meaning.
Usually I tend to take the side of descriptive linguists but in this case I don't. There is something about this improper use of "begs the question" that sounds pretentious, as if the speaker is trying to show off his eloquent turn of phrase. This arrogance annoys me because it is completely and ironically ignorant. (I make no claims about my own eloquence. I still say "like", like, way too much. I need some kind of electric collar with voice recognition to shock me out of that habit.)
--Old blog comments:
March 18th, 2006 at 2:39 pm
jer Says:
That bugs the crap out of me too. Like you,
the big problem I have with it is the ironic showoffy
pretension of using a fancy phrase incorrectly, not that it is incorrect.
As for people's disregard for those around them re: cell phone use, I'm currently reading Stephen King's new novel Cell. In it, some sort of mysterious cellphone signal has caused anyone who uses a mobile phone to turn into a bloodthirsty crazed fast-zombie psychopath, and the only 'survivors' are those that for one reason or another either don't own phones, or don't use them in public. Fuck yeh. This one's being filed under Nonfiction: Inventions I Need To Devote More Time To.
Another misused phrase that I recently learned about (from James Randi no less) and subesquently had to stop misusing is "willy nilly." It doesn't mean what you think it does, unless of course you are really smart and really know what it means.
-March 21st, 2006 at 4:53 pm
GNBenson Says:
I willy nilly looked up "willy nilly" for
reasons to be elaborated on in my next blog post.
(Or does that have to be in the third person?)
http://www.bartleby.com/61/38/W0163800.html
March 22nd, 2006 at 12:08 am
jer Says:
Here's what Randi had to say in his December 23rd 2005 issue of SWIFT regarding willy nilly:
And, while we’re at it – just for holiday fun – ask your friends what the primary use of the adverb “willy-nilly” is. If they say, “any old way,” or “haphazardly,” show them a dictionary. The word is actually derived from “will ye, nill ye,” and is most correctly used in the sentence, “The executioner led the condemned man to the gallows, willy-nilly.” It means, “whether willing or not.”
-April 15th, 2006 at 10:09 am
Andrew Says:
these posts of course beg the question... oh I won't do it.
I think that "beg the question" works appropriately in some cases despite its overuse. Just because phrase is used 'traditionally' for one purpose doesn't mean it can't be adapted over time. Look at the history of the word "fun" for a fun example.
I always pictured "begging the question" as just that -- there is some statement made that is sooooo glaringly obvious, that you can picture someone sitting there with his hand up, bobbing up and down, just WAITING to be called on to ask his question.
-April 17th, 2006 at 12:55 pm
GNBenson Says:
Hmm, it sounds like you are guilty of misusing this phrase. Repent!